Syria is contaminated by
landmines
and explosive remnants of war (
ERW
). This is mainly due to the Arab-Israeli wars; unfortunately though, the current conflict has further contaminated Syria.

Use of victim activated Improvised Explosive Devices (
IED
) has also been reported. The extent of contamination at this stage is unknown due to the lack of access. The Monitor, however, reports 1,584 Syrian casualties due to
cluster munition
strikes and remnants, including unexploded ordnances (
UXO
) to date. Of those killed in 2012 and 2013, 97% were civilians. The humanitarian situation in Syria is extremely challenging and continues to deteriorate at a rapid pace with more than 6.8 million Syrians needing humanitarian assistance.

Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) is currently in the process of planning its intervention into Syria, given the very difficult security situation. The immediate plans involve risk education
(RE)
activities, non-technical survey
(NTS)
and impact Assessment
(IA)
activities.

Fast facts

Syrian government use of cluster munitions has been widespread and is ongoing. According to Human Rights Watch, Syrian forces used at least 249 cluster munitions in 10 of Syria’s 14 governorates between July 2012 and July 2014.

As of November 1, 2014, there have been more than 3.2 million registered Syrian refugees.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 6,000 deaths have been reported in October 2014 alone and more than 200,000 people have been killed in the civil war up to date.

Further information

Norwegian People's Aid works in Syria through local partners who provide humanitarian aid inside the country. We support civil society, enabling them to demand to be represented and protected by the political opposition, armed groups and from the Syrian government.